Bottle crate



Sept. 8, 1936.

F. ca. KRUEGER ET AL BOTTLE CRATE z osasm Filed June 14, 1935 I 4 INVENTORS', fiQED GKRUEGER BY FRED MHz/05mm,-

Patented Sept. 8, I936 UNITED. STATES. PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE CRATE Fred G. Krucgen-Norwood, and Fred H.

' Hudepohl, St. Bernard, Ohio Application June 14, 1935, Serial No. 26,630

g 6 Claims. (01. 21720) Our invention relates to crates and more espelifting the crates when the crates are empty or cially to crates used for containing milk bottles partly empty. in the dairy business. Such crates are subjected It is an object of our invention to provide the to rough handling while sustaining the weight intermediate re-enforcement of the bottle supof the bottles when the latter are filled and are porting wires or rods in such a manner that it 5 being delivered to the customer as well as when will be very rigid and effective in its re-eniorcing the crates containing the empty bottles are being function and yet will be very readily assembled returned to the dairy. The crates also are subwith the other parts of the crate. jected to extremes of heat and cold and steam- A further object is to provide such re-enforcmg for purposes of cleaning and sterilizing. The ing means in such a manner that it will effectively l0 preferred combination of materials is wood and connect the compartment-forming wires and the metal; and the wood is especially adversely affectbottle supporting wires so that each set of wires ed under the above conditions. It is therefore efiiciently acts as a re-enforcement to each other necessary to provide in any such crate a substan set of wires; and at the same time to have the tial and strong attachment of the metal parts to entire assembly such as may easily be put to- 15 the wood parts. gether in the manufacture of the crate. A very common example of such crates is that We attain the above objects as well as other in which four upright wooden Walls are connected objects which will appear in the course of the at their corners and suitably re-enforced by following description by the structure illustrated, 2 metallic elements; the interior of the crate being for example, in the accompanying drawing in crossed in both directions by a series of metal which:

wires or rods having their opposite ends fixed in Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the opposite wooden walls of the crate. A series of crate on the line I--l of Fig. 2; these wires or rods is arranged horizontally across Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same the bottom portion of the interior of the crate, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; 25 to be contacted by the bottoms of the bottles; Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the cross these wires or rods extending in only one direcbeam of the intermediate re-enforcement; tion; while additional series of wires or rods above Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the this single series are arranged to extend at right connecting elements by which the cross beam is angles to each other to form compartments each tied to the upper set of compartment-forming 3 of which receives one of the bottles. wires;

It is with a crate of this character that our in- Fi 5 is a pa t detail P rspective view corvention is especially concerned. These crates responding to Fig. 3 and illustrating a modificahave become fairly well standardized as to protion of the cross beam; and

portion and size; being of oblong shape with the Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating another 35 lower supporting wires running lengthwise. As modification. is well known in this kind of crate it is necessary I he c te ei illustrated as an example has to support these supporting wires intermediate the Wooden end Walls e made p f a bo tom of the end walls of the c t in which t ends slat I and three upper slats la; and wooden side of the wires are fixed so that these wires will form Walls each made up of 3 Iowa and three 40 a suficiently rigid support for the bottles and not uppe? slats slats are mmed at the be bent out of shape under the stresses of hanmee tmg comers by P f' m sheet metal dling the crate and of inserting the bottles into angl? bars 3 and slmllar angle bars the Com artments It also has been found to be 4 which will be understood to be riveted or otheri d t wise suitably rigidly secured to the slats as is well 5 Van age 0 B Ion or connec' known in the art; so that the sidev and end walls trons betweenthe intermediate re-enforcement are rigidly joined and are re enforced at their of f lower Wlres and one more of the upper corners, outside and inside, by these angle bars. senes of compartment'formmg Wires; that Also as is well-known in the art, the inner angle 50 these upper wires will be Sustained in Shape bars 4 have upstanding stacking guides 5. The 5 against the stresses of downward striking of the upper t of t end 1 m |a have recesses 5 and b ttl w g g l n d; g w g as Ba to admit the hands for lifting the crate, as is agams upwar en mg. is upwar en ing l, is most liable to occur when the handlers of the As here shown, the crate is provided for recrates grasp'the compartment-forming wires for cei'ving twelve bottles in three longitudinal rows 55 of four bottles each. It will be understood, however, that crates for different numbers of bottles and with different arrangements of the bottles are used in the art and that our invention is applicable to any such difierent number or arrangement. For the arrangement as shown three pairs of bottle supporting wires 7 are provided with their end parts rigidly secured in the lower end wall slats l in any suitable manner well known in the art. Each pair of wires Tis thus arranged to support a row of four bottles; and to define the middle row of compartments from the two outer rows two pairs of longitudinal" compartment-forming wires areprovided. The lower wires 8 are spaced relatively a short distance upward from the plane of the supporting wires 1; and the upper wires 9 are spaced a considerably greater distance upward from the lower wires 8. To define the four compartments of the longitudinal raws corresponding series of lower cross wires l and upper cross wires H are provided having their opposite ends rigidly secured to the wall slats 2 and 2a; these cross wires Ill and H come very close to or in contact with the longitudinal wires 8 and 9 where they cross these wires. This is a usual construction of milk bottle crates; and it is explained in detail to permit the clear description of our invention in which this construction is involved.

As before stated, it is usual to provide some kind of rigid re-enforcement for the wires 1 as well as the wires 8 and 9 at one or more places intermediate of the length of the supporting wires 1. We have improved this re-enforcing means by the provision of the beam l2 which comprises at least one vertical web l3 with apertures l4 through which pass the respective bottle supporting wires 1 near the lower edge of the web; and means near the upper edge of the web l3 to engage overone of the lower cross wires ID; as well as openings l5 through which pass the lower longitudinal compartment defining wires 8. The upper means for engaging over the cross wire is so provided that this beam l2 may be readily inserted after cross wire It! has been fully secured in the crate side walls but before the longitudinal wires 1, 8 and 9 have been inserted. 7

This is of considerable advantage in assembling the crates not only because a largeproportion of the wires, that is all of the cross wires l0 and H, may be fully secured without complications as to the assemblage of the re-enforcing means and the longitudinal wires 1, 8 and 9 therewith. In fact by having the transverse wires already fully secured in position these may be made to support the re-enforcing structure so as to greatly facilitate the assemblage of the longitudinal wires in the crate therewith.

As we illustrate it herein, and as is preferred, the upper means of the beam l2 for engaging over the cross wire I 0 consists of a series of tongues integral with the web l3, which tongues are bent over in inverted U shape to hook over the Wire l 0 as the beam I2 is passed down in the crate. The beam I2 is made of such length as to fit snugly between the opposite lower side wall slats 2. It thus firmly re-enforces these slats 2 against inward bending or breaking and also by its close engagement with the slats at the ends is largely prevented from moving out of its proper position with its web l3 vertical.

As here shown, the beam 12 has tongues 16 bent as above described and extending longitudinally of the beam I2 for a considerable distance each way from each opening l5 that receives a longitudinal wire 8. So that such tongue or hook l6 may engage amply down along side the cross wire II] with its free portion, this portion is provided with a notch l! to receive the longitudinal Wire 8; the middle portion of the edge of this notch preferably being in horizontal alignment with the top edge of the respective opening l5 so as to snugly engage the top of the respective longitudinal wire 8. This helps to prevent rocking of the beam laterally on the cross wire 10. Also as the longitudinal wires 8 pass snugly through the openings l5 and against the upper edge of the notch I! as Well as against the lower side of the cross wire Hi, the beam I2 is very firmly connected to the intermediate portions of the cross wire I0.

At its end portions the beam l2 has the tongues lSa bent as above described and hooking over the cross wire I8 immediately adjacent to the side walls 2 in which the end portions of the. cross wire I 0 are fixed. Thus the beam I2 is firmly supported by the crate side walls to resist downward displacement; so that it is adapted to effectively support the longitudinal bottle supporting wires 1 and. fit snugly through the openings l4 of the lower portion. of the beam. .To .add rigidity to the beam its web l3 preferably has the horizontal flange l8 along its lower edge throughout its length. This flange isespecially desirable because it permits of a minimum ofrextension of the beam I2 below the supporting wires 1 which the beam supports and yet retains the required amount of metalbelow the openings M to avoid undue weakening of the beam by the provision of these openings. Also the openings H} are preferably placed down close to the flange l8 so that the longitudinal wires 1 ,may firmly engage the top of this flange l8 so that this also afiords some provision against rocking of the beam laterally. I

As before stated, milk bottle crates have become very closely standardized as, to size owing to the fact that they must receive bottles of standard size and also, must pass through machinery in cleaning, sterilizing and other treatment in the dairy plants so that there is no margin for variation either in external or internal dimensions of the crate. For this reason it is often necessary to construct the metal parts of the crate with a very close margin relative to the size of the bottles. For example, where the tongues l6 hook over the cross wire Ill in our invention there is involved a thickness of the metal at both sides of this wire Ill. In some cases even one thickness of metal at this point where the cross wire IE is tangent to the bottle will prevent the free entrance of the bottle down to the supporting wires 1. The interference of onethickness of metal at this tangent point is avoided by limiting the lengths of'the tongues or hook portions l6 and Mia along the beam l2 as above described. However in some cases the thickness of metal'at the other side of the wire 10 would prevent free insertion of the bottle. In such cases the beam may be modified as the beam I 2a in Fig. 5 where the web l3a has a compound bend l3 throughout its length, so that each portion l3b that extends between tongues or hook portions I6, or l6 and Mia, lies under the adjacent side portion of the transverse wire IB. If the relative size of the bottles and the crate interiorvis such as to permit a thickness of metal at each side of the wire l0 it would be unnecessary to discontinue the matemosses? rial between tongues I6 or tonguesfloandclfia; so that a continuous flangemight-beibent to hook over the cross. wire :Illasiillustrated in Fig; 6 where the beam I21) has the continuous; hooked fiangeIBb.

The. beam ...l2,lil2m. .on I 2b constructed and assembled as above described will effectively unite the bottle supporting wires I, the metal cross wire I9 and the lower compartment-defining wires 8 into a single rigid structure which will very effectively resist either upward or downward distortion.

In order to impart the required strength to the upper longitudinal wires 9 and the middle cross wire II for the purposes before mentioned, we provide vertical connecting elements I9 between the lower structure above described and the upper wires 9 and I I; which elements are adapted to resist both upward and downward movement of the wires 9 and H relative to the rigid lower structure. As here shown, each hook or tongue It has a slot 29 in its top aligned with the opening I5 through which the wire 8 passes. Each element I9 is in the form of a flat metal strip which extends down through this slot 29 between the cross wire I 9 and the side of the tongue or hook portion I6 that is next to the web I3; the lower end portion of this strip having an opening 2| through which the longitudinal wire 8 passes to fit snugly therein. The upper end portion of the strip is bent to form a hook 22 which engages down over the transverse wire II; and the strip and the free end portion of the hook 22 have the aligned openings 53 and 24 respectively through which the langitudinal wire 9 passes snugly with the result that this hooked upper portion of the element I9 binds the longitudinal wires 9 and the cross wire II together with a connection that also is able to resist either upward or downward stresses on the wires 9 and I I.

As here shown there are two sets of upper compartment-defining wires, the lower one of these sets comprising the longitudinal wires 9a and the cross wires Ila, the latter merely passing alongside the connector I9 while the longitudinal wire passes through the connector. In other crates this upper set is omitted; and it will be understood that the connector I9 would then connect with the wires 9a and Na as here shown for the upper wires 9 and II.

In assembling the crate, as before alluded to, the wooden side and end walls may be fully connected and all of the transverse wires may be inserted and secured in the usual manner. Then the beam I2 may be inserted, hooked over the transverse wire II] and the strips I9 may be inserted down through the slots 29 to hook over the upper transverse wire II. Then all the longitudinal wires "I, 8 and 9 may be inserted through one end of the crate and through the several openings in the beam and in the connecting elements I9; after which these longitudinal wires may be firmly secured to the ends of the crate in any manner well known in the art.

We have shown certain modifications but it will be understood that other modifications may occur and therefore we are not limited to the precise disclosure herein, but what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bottle crate comprising upright walls, a plurality of sets of bottle supporting wires and a compartment-defining wire above and intermediate of the sets of supporting wires, the several wires being secured to the respective crate walls,

and.a compartmentedefining wire crossing above the-abovementioned compartment-defining wire and secured to respective crate walls, a beam through 1 which 'the: supporting wires and -the first-lmentioned; compartment-defining wire e'xtend-said beam, havingxa *parthooked over the last-described compartment-defining wire adjacent to the compartment-defining wire that passes through the beam, said beam extending close to the respective crate walls and having additional portions hooked over said wire adjacent to said walls, the hooked-over portions being spaced to permit entrance of bottles closely along side the wire over which they hook.

2. A bottle crate as set forth in claim 1 in which the beam has a portion intermediate of its hooked-over portions displaced under the wire so that bottles may be inserted close to both sides of the wire.

3. In a bottle crate as a re-enforcement for the lower bottle supporting wires and crossing compartment-defining wires above the supporting wires, a beam having the supporting wires extending therethrough and having means to hook over one of the compartment-defining wires as the beam is passed downwardly in the crate assembly, said beam having another one of said compartment-defining wires passing through it and securing it in its hooked-over relation to the first-mentioned compartment-defining wire, said beam comprising an upright web portion through which the wires extend, and a bottom laterally extended flange portion with the supporting wires in engagement with the top of said flange.

4. In a bottle crate as a re-enforcement for the lower bottle supporting wires and crossing compartment-defining wires above the supporting wires, a beam having the supporting wires extending therethrough and having means to hook over one of thecompartment-defining wires as the beam is passed downwardly in the crate assembly, said beam having another one of said compartment-defining wires passing through it and securing it in its hooked-over relation to the first-mentioned compartment-defining wire, said beam comprising an upright web portion through which the wires extend, which has its upper portion bent to form the hooking-over means which is of inverted U-shape with sides to engage the opposite sides of the wire and having a free edge with a notch in which is engaged the compartment-defining wire that secures the means in hooked-over relation.

5. In a bottle crate comprising four upright walls, bottle-supporting wires extending between opposite walls and secured to said walls, and upper and lower sets of compartment-forming wires crossing each other above said supporting wires and secured to the respective opposite walls, a re-enforcing means having said supporting wires extending through it and having an extension extending over a lower one of the compartment-forming wires with compartmentforming wires extending through said member below the just-mentioned compartment-forming wire and locking said wire to said extension, said extension having an opening spaced across said wire from an upright portion of the re-enforcing member, and a connecting element engaging upper ones of the compartment-forming wires and extending down through said opening and holding said lower compartment-forming wire between itself and said upright portion, said connecting element extending below said Wire and having extending through it the compartmentcomprising a bottom laterally extended flange forming wire that extends through the re-enportion continuous along those parts of the forcing member. 7 V 7 length of the beam between the spaced hooked- 6. A bottle crate as set forth 'in claim 1 in over portions. 5 which the part of the beam through which the FRED G. KRUEGER. 5

wires extend is an upright web, said beam also 1 VF'RED H. HUDEPOHL. 

